Monday, September 29, 2008

The following posting was written by Elizabeth Roach (bettanne@online.no) who resides in Oslo, Norway. Ms. Roach is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin where she majored in English, Latin and Greek. Ms. Roach taught these languages at Rockford West High School in Rockford, Illinois and was the first Black teacher in the Rockford, Illinois school system. Upon moving to Oslo, Norway, Ms. Roach taught American students on the American base. She later opened an American bakery before retiring several years ago. Ms. Roach’s big interest of late is American politics.Ms. Roach is the sister of Jean Bryant, an award-winning journalist and founder of the Miss Black Teenage Pageant and the Mister African American Pageant. The Miss Black Teenage Pageant has provided participants with $400,000 in educational grants to date. She is a recent recipient of the Pittsburgh Black Media Federation Legend in Journalism Award for her distinguished career as reporter for the Pittsburgh Press and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. In recognition for her community service, Jean also received the New Pittsburgh Courier 2008 50 Women of Excellence Award.

#In a speech at a church in Wasilla, Alaska, Sarah Palin claimed that the Iraq war was God’s plan! Then she proceeded to make the case that it was also God’s plan to dig for oil in Anwar.

I’d like to know if she thinks it was God’s plan for our young men and women to attack a country that had not attacked us? Sarah Palin, you got that wrong. It was George W. Bush’s plan. Do you also think it was God’s plan for 3,000 young, innocent American soldiers to spill their blood in Iraq? Was it God’s plan to send them to war with equipment so inadequate that they were sitting ducks for the adversary? Was it God’s plan to bring so many of our young men and women home from Iraq in caskets or with maimed bodies and broken dreams?

Sarah Palin, My God does not make such plans—only people make such plans—people like you, like John McCain and like George Bush!.

Sarah Palin also said that people in Alaska had to “get right with God” and vote for digging in Anwar for oil. This was a cynical use of God to sell her plan and to connect being “right with God” to her political agendas.

And now the evangelicals have abandoned their stand on ethics and family values to suit Sarah Palin’s because it was politically expedient to do so. They are falling all over a woman who paraded her unwed, 5-month pregnant teenage daughter on the stage where she sought the Republican nomination for Vice-President.

Her daughter’s pregnancy tells me that Palin’s stand against sex education and prevention hasn’t worked, at least not in her own home. It tells me that she’s a hypocrite---the kind that tells you to live your life one way, while she practices another way. I’m not holding Palin’s daughter responsible, but Palin herself who puts running public offices above “minding the store” at home.

You cannot trust John McCain´s judgement. He supported Bush´s waragainst Iraq, a country that had not attacked us. Like Bush, McCain was a mediocre student who landed as nr. 6 from the bottom of his class at the U.S. Naval Academy! By the way, Bush once told a graduating class that he had been a c-student, proof that even a c-student could get to be President. Well, just look at what that got us: a preemptory 5-year war in Iraq, a debt that is over half a trillion dollars, and an economy that is a shambles. WE DON´T NEED ANOTHER C-STUDENT IN THE WHITE HOUSE. And speaking of poor judgement, McCain was censured for his poor judgement in the Keating Five debacle of which he was a part. He went to bat for Keating, the man who looted his own S&L bank causing huge losses to his customers and a huge bill for taxpayers. Keating went to jail.

John McCain is what I call a "closet" war monger. He says he hates war, but was filmed singing "Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran". He tried to pass it off as a joke, but many truths are hidden in jokes. Later, when he heard that Iran was a major importer of American cigarettes, he said, "Maybe that's a way of killing them." It´s incredible that these words came out of the mouth of a man aspiring to be President! It is clear that diplomacy would not be his strong suit if he makes it to the oval office. His words bespeak a hidden agenda which the American people had better be aware of!

It is, therefore, no coincidence that one of his campaign mangers is Randy Scheunemann, a neo-conservative who pushed for the Iraq war and who is a paid lobbyist for the foreign country of Georgia, which recently received 1 billion dollars to rebuild after their military confrontation with Russia! We´ve been hoodwinked into giving them 1 billion dollars at a time when our economy is in the tubes! And get this, McCain was the first one to run over to Georgia for a photo-op with President Saakashvili - and while there, he dramatically declared that we Americans are all Georgians, reminiscent of JFK´s "ich bin ein Berliner". McCain, you are no JFK!

Thanks, but no thanks, McCain. I´m not a Georgian, I´m an American, so leave me and the American taxpayers out of it! We shouldn´t egg the Russians on by fooling around in their backyard! It´s obvious that McCain is spoiling for a fight with Russia. Think about it - did we like it when Russia tried to install missiles on Cuba? No, we did not! John F. Kennedy invoked the Monroe Doctrine and sent the Russians packing!

Why would McCain have Scheunemann as a campaign manager, anyway? In some ways that set up reminds me of the former Congressman, Charlie Wilson and his shenanigans. Wilson found ways and means to fund a covert war in Afghanistan. (Remember the movie, Charlie Wilson's War?) Well, substitute Georgia for Afghanistan and, oops - dèja vu - I smell another "Charlie Wilson's War" coming on some time further down the line with McCain and Scheunemann leading the cavalry against Russia!

McCain also has a dark side. Remember that hateful joke he told at a gathering making fun of Chelsea and Hillary Clinton: "Why is Chelsea so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno." Chelsea was just a teenager at the time and he made her the butt of a smutty joke! Then there was the time McCain was speaking to an audience and cruelly referred to Leisure Village, a senior citizen's complex, as Seizure Village!

In addition, McCain has a pattern of lying to get what he wants. Take the time when he made his move on 17 year old Cindy - he lied about his age to cover up the fact that he was 18 years her senior! Then, years later, he wrote a book and lied about the date of his application to marry Cindy to cover up the fact that he was still married to his first wife and he was still living with her! And now that McCain is running for President, his lying streak is showing up in his statements and attack-ads against Barack Obama.

Blogger Buzz says every American should have knowledge and understanding of the achievements and contributions of African Americans which are far more numerous than those mentioned below. For these contributions helped to make America a first rate power. And without the thousands of contributions and the blood, sweat and tears and over 300 years of free labor, America would be a second rate power.#

Why is it that a Black Man can create a tiny piece called a filament (electric light - Lewis Latimer) that allows people to see in the dark? But can't be seen fit to lead a country to the true light.

Why is it that a Black Man can create an instrument (clock - Benjamin Banneker) that all People use to tell time? But people don't think it is time for him to run a country.

Why is it that a Black Man can design a place for the high authorities to meet in & a place for the President to live in (The Capitol & the White House) Phillip Reid (a slave) & Pierre L'Enfant)? But not be good enough to lead these meetings or live in himself.

Why is it that a Black Man is brilliant enough to do the first open heart surgery (Dr. Daniel Hale Williams) and show the world how to get and preserve plasma (Dr. Charles Drew)? But not be good enough to put a program in place where everyone can afford this surgery.

Why is it that a Black Man is creative enoughto design an instrument (traffic light - Garrett Morgan) to bring multiple people (traffic) to a halt? But not be seen creative enough to design a plan to bring all this unnecessary and worthless Fighting between countries to an end.

Why is it that a Black Man can create the soles (shoes - Jan Matzeliger) that people walk on everyday? But not be seen good enough to fill the shoes of a bad president.

Why is it that a Black Man is smart enough & brave enough to teach himself (Fredrick Douglas & Thomas Fuller - both slaves) and others how to read, write and/or calculate math? But not be seen (as) smart enough and bold enough to calculate a platform to b e President to a country that sure needs another first by us.

So you see my Brothers and Sisters what I am saying is let us not forget our past, which led us to our present and can definitely be the backbone to our future.

We were good enough, smart enough, creative enough, and bold enough then, so let us all give Obama the chance to show that we are still good enough, smart enough, creative enough and bold enough and more.We all are as strong as our weakest link, so don't be that weak link that denies our people that chance to show we still can OVERCOME & BE THE FIRST

Hopefully Gwen Ifill of PBS, the moderator of Thursday’s Vice-Presidential debate to be held at Washington University in St. Louis, will permit or afford the distinguished Sarah Palin the opportunity to utilize a lifeline to Dr. Henry Kissinger, Joe Lieberman, Tom DeLay and her favorite political ally, Ted Stevens whenever she feels that she may make a gaffe or error. And Mr. Biden, please don’t point your finger in sister Sarah’s face.This Thursday’s vice-presidential debate promises to be the greatest vice-presidential debate in American political history.

I am still rather baffled as to what sister Sarah could be discussing with such notable leaders from Georgia, India, Iraq, Pakistan, and Ukraine other than the art of effective moose hunting or salmon or ice fishing! Why is sister Sarah getting a free pass in not having a legitimate, bona-fide news conference or interview with the media after having met on the world stage with various leaders? Is this another campaign ploy on the part of the rambunctious John McCain to shield, hide and protect Palin from the public? What is the McCain camp fearful of----sister Sarah’s lack of substantive knowledge or her non-preparedness or both?

So by being able to see Russia on a clear day, makes Mrs. Palin an expert on foreign policy and foreign affairs? Russia has an airbase 40 miles from Alaska. Perhaps on a clear day, Mrs. Palin can see that base. But I think sister Palin should be more worried about her Alaskan legal problems than about the Russians.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

By George F. WillTuesday, September 23, 2008"The queen had only one way of settling all difficulties, great or small. 'Off with his head!' she said without even looking around."

-- "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"Under the pressure of the financial crisis, one presidential candidate is behaving like a flustered rookie playing in a league too high. It is not Barack Obama.

Channeling his inner Queen of Hearts, John McCain furiously, and apparently without even looking around at facts, said Chris Cox, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, should be decapitated. This childish reflex provoked the Wall Street Journal to editorialize that "McCain untethered" -- disconnected from knowledge and principle -- had made a "false and deeply unfair" attack on Cox that was "unpresidential" and demonstrated that McCain "doesn't understand what's happening on Wall Street any better than Barack Obama does."

To read the Journal's details about the depths of McCain's shallowness on the subject of Cox's chairmanship, see "McCain's Scapegoat" (Sept. 19). Then consider McCain's characteristic accusation that Cox "has betrayed the public's trust."

Perhaps an old antagonism is involved in McCain's fact-free slander. His most conspicuous economic adviser is Douglas Holtz-Eakin, who previously headed the Congressional Budget Office. There he was an impediment to conservatives, including then-Rep. Cox, who, as chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, persistently tried and generally failed to enlist CBO support for "dynamic scoring" that would estimate the economic growth effects of proposed tax cuts.

In any case, McCain's smear -- that Cox "betrayed the public's trust" -- is a harbinger of a McCain presidency. For McCain, politics is always operatic, pitting people who agree with him against those who are "corrupt" or "betray the public's trust," two categories that seem to be exhaustive -- there are no other people. McCain's Manichaean worldview drove him to his signature legislative achievement, the McCain-Feingold law's restrictions on campaigning. Today, his campaign is creatively finding interstices in laws intended to restrict campaign giving and spending. (For details, see The Post of Sept. 17; and the New York Times of Sept. 19.)

By a Gresham's Law of political discourse, McCain's Queen of Hearts intervention in the opaque financial crisis overshadowed a solid conservative complaint from the Republican Study Committee, chaired by Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas. In a letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, the RSC decried the improvised torrent of bailouts as a "dangerous and unmistakable precedent for the federal government both to be looked to and indeed relied upon to save private sector companies from the consequences of their poor economic decisions." This letter, listing just $650 billion of the perhaps more than $1 trillion in new federal exposures to risk, was sent while McCain's campaign, characteristically substituting vehemence for coherence, was airing an ad warning that Obama favors "massive government, billions in spending increases."

The political left always aims to expand the permeation of economic life by politics. Today, the efficient means to that end is government control of capital. So, is not McCain's party now conducting the most leftist administration in American history? The New Deal never acted so precipitously on such a scale. Treasury Secretary Paulson, asked about conservative complaints that his rescue program amounts to socialism, said, essentially: This is not socialism, this is necessary. That non sequitur might be politically necessary, but remember that government control of capital is government control of capitalism. Does McCain have qualms about this, or only quarrels?

On "60 Minutes" Sunday evening, McCain, saying "this may sound a little unusual," said that he would like to replace Cox with Andrew Cuomo, the Democratic attorney general of New York who is the son of former governor Mario Cuomo. McCain explained that Cuomo has "respect" and "prestige" and could "lend some bipartisanship." Conservatives have been warned.

Conservatives who insist that electing McCain is crucial usually start, and increasingly end, by saying he would make excellent judicial selections. But the more one sees of his impulsive, intensely personal reactions to people and events, the less confidence one has that he would select judges by calm reflection and clear principles, having neither patience nor aptitude for either.

It is arguable that, because of his inexperience, Obama is not ready for the presidency. It is arguable that McCain, because of his boiling moralism and bottomless reservoir of certitudes, is not suited to the presidency. Unreadiness can be corrected, although perhaps at great cost, by experience. Can a dismaying temperament be fixed?georgewill@washpost.com

Blogger Buzz says this isn’t the first time that John McCain (McSame) lost his head. His flippant irresponsible remarks in removing Mr. Cox from the SEC and his political stunting in attempting to postpone the debate to be held in Oxford, Mississippi on Friday, are just further evidence that John McCain appears not to be in the right mental frame of mind with his reckless self-seeking behavior. Furthermore, it should also be noted that Mr. McCain will do absolutely anything to win an election, even if it involves our crisis situation with the economy that shouldn’t be politicized for his own advantage. This present strategy by John McCain is a knee-jerk reaction to his numbers going down in the polls. John McCain is the same man who said last week: “the fundamentals of our economy are strong”. So how did those strong fundamentals that Mr. McCain talked about erode so rapidly within less than six days? McCain is attempting to steal the stage from Obama to make himself look more presidential in a crisis to deflect attention away from his own lack of knowledge of the complexities of the economy, his ineptness and incompetency.

John McCain is a person who can’t be trusted and who would actually put his own self-serving interests above his country to win an election. For a guy who has one of the worst attendance records in the Senate and who claims he avoids Washington as though it has the plague, he is going to Washington in a vain attempt to embarrass Barack Obama. For John McCain and Phil Gramm are the principle architects of deregulation of our banking and finance industry which has caused this most serious damaging potential for collapse of Wall Street. Only the fools amongst us or un-American bigots would vote for McCain/Palin.

The Obama campaign is asking folks to support a responsible recovery plan that is fair to taxpayers and will fix our broken economic policies moving forward.It’s actually a very simple plan: * No Golden Parachutes---------------------------Taxpayer dollars should not be used to reward the irresponsible Wall Street executives who helmed this disaster.

* Main Street, Not Just Wall Street---------------Any bailout plan must include a payback strategy for taxpayers who are footing the bill and aid to to innocent homeowners who are facing foreclosure.

So what else is new? Now that you raped Mother Earth from many of its vital natural resources, now you want to rape the ocean and ocean beds for its resources because of your incessant, gluttonous greed to feed your excessive, materialistic, epicurean lifestyle of behavior. Yes, my father and ancestors are turning over in their respective graves in admonishing and condemning the caretakers of planet earth. What is it about this modern day Renaissance man that has limited his ability to live in harmony with nature and his environment? Perhaps the Amish and a few remaining indigenous tribes are the only true people who understand how to live compatibly with nature by not destructively damaging the environment. When will these crimes against Mother Nature and our planet cease and desist? What will you drill for when there is nothing remaining to feed your insatiable appetite?

Monday, September 22, 2008

John McCain committed another gaffe by not knowing that Spain is located in Southern Europe. Mr. McCain confused Spain with a Latin American country. The media continues to give Mr. McCain a free pass when he consistently makes error after error and lie after lie. McCain’s chief foreign policy advisor, Randy Scheunemann identified Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero as the prime minister of Spain whereas actually Mr. Zapatero is the President of Spain.

Also, McCain said on September 22nd that Sarah Palin’s son was deploying with the Alaskan National Guard to Iraq. Palin’s son is deploying to Iraq as a member of the regular U. S. Army.The sponsored media is in bed with John McCain particularly the racist pundits at Fox News.

For those who still can't grasp the concept of white privilege, or who are looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps this list will help. White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because "every family has challenges," even as black and Latino families with similar "challenges" are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and arbiters of social decay.

White privilege is when you can call yourself a "fuckin' redneck," like Bristol Palin's boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll "kick their fuckin' ass," and talk about how you like to "shoot shit" for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug.

White privilege is when you can attend four different colleges in six years like Sarah Palin did (one of which you basically failed out of, then returned to after making up some coursework at a community college), and no one questions your intelligence or commitment to achievement, whereas a person of color who did this would be viewed as unfit for college, and probably someone who only got in in the first place because of affirmative action.

White privilege is when you can claim that being mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be president, and people don't all piss on themselves with laughter, while being a black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you're "untested."

White privilege is being able to say that you support the words "under God" in the pledge of allegiance because "if it was good enough for the founding fathers, it's good enough for me," and not be immediately disqualified from holding office--since, after all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and the "under God" part wasn't added until the 1950s--while if you're black and believe in reading accused criminals and terrorists their rights (because the Constitution, which you used to teach at a prestigious law school, requires it), you are a dangerous and mushy liberal who isn't fit to safeguard American institutions.

White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make people immediately scared of you.White privilege is being able to have a husband who was a member of an extremist political party that wants your state to secede from the Union, and whose motto is "Alaska first," and no one questions your patriotism or that of your family, while if you're black and your spouse merely fails to come to a 9/11 memorial so she can be home with her kids on the first day of school, people immediately think she's being disrespectful.

White privilege is being able to make fun of community organizers and the work they do--like, among other things, fight for the right of women to vote, or for civil rights, or the 8-hour workday, or an end to child labor--and people think you're being pithy and tough, but if you merely question the experience of a small town mayor and 18-month governor with no foreign policy expertise beyond a class she took in college and the fact that she lives close to Russia--you're somehow being mean, or even sexist.

White privilege is being able to convince white women who don't even agree with you on any substantive issue to vote for you and your running mate anyway, because suddenly your presence on the ticket has inspired confidence in these same white women, and made them give your party a "second look."

White privilege is being able to fire people who didn't support your political campaigns and not be accused of abusing your power or being a typical politician who engages in favoritism, while being black and merely knowing some folks from the old-line political machines in Chicago means you must be corrupt.White privilege is when you can take nearly twenty-four hours to get to a hospital after beginning to leak amniotic fluid, and still be viewed as a great mom whose commitment to her children is unquestionable, and whose "next door neighbor" qualities make her ready to be VP, while if you're a black candidate for president and you let your children be interviewed for a few seconds on TV, you're irresponsibly exploiting them.

White privilege is being able to give a 36 minute speech in which you talk about lipstick and make fun of your opponent, while laying out no substantive policy positions on any issue at all, and still manage to be considered a legitimate candidate, while a black person who gives an hour speech the week before, in which he lays out specific policy proposals on several issues, is still criticized for being too vague about what he would do if elected.

White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years whose pastors say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely criticize George W. Bush are going to hell, and that the U.S. is an explicitly Christian nation and the job of Christians is to bring Christian theological principles into government, and who bring in speakers who say the conflict in the Middle East is God's punishment on Jews for rejecting Jesus, and everyone can still think you're just a good church-going Christian, but if you're black and friends with a black pastor who has noted (as have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department of Defense) that terrorist attacks are often the result of U.S. foreign policy and who talks about the history of racism and its effect on black people, you're an extremist who probably hates America.

White privilege is not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is when asked by a reporter, and then people get angry at the reporter for asking you such a "trick question," while being black and merely refusing to give one-word answers to the queries of Bill O'Reilly means you're dodging the question, or trying to seem overly intellectual and nuanced.

White privilege is being able to go to a prestigious prep school, then to Yale and then Harvard Business school, and yet, still be seen as just an average guy (George W. Bush) while being black, going to a prestigious prep school, then Occidental College, then Columbia, and then to Harvard Law, makes you "uppity," and a snob who probably looks down on regular folks.

White privilege is being able to graduate near the bottom of your college class (McCain), or graduate with a C average from Yale (W.) and that's OK, and you're cut out to be president, but if you're black and you graduate near the top of your class from Harvard Law, you can't be trusted to make good decisions in office.

White privilege is being able to dump your first wife after she's disfigured in a car crash so you can take up with a multi-millionaire beauty queen (who you go on to call the c-word in public) and still be thought of as a man of strong family values, while if you're black and married for nearly twenty years to the same woman, your family is viewed as un-American and your gestures of affection for each other are called "terrorist fist bumps."

White privilege is when you can develop a pain-killer addiction, having obtained your drug of choice illegally like Cindy McCain, go on to beat that addiction, and everyone praises you for being so strong, while being a black guy who smoked pot a few times in college and never became an addict means people will wonder if perhaps you still get high, and even ask whether or not you ever sold drugs.

White privilege is being able to sing a song about bombing Iran and still be viewed as a sober and rational statesman, with the maturity to be president, while being black and suggesting that the U.S. should speak with other nations, even when we have disagreements with them, makes you "dangerously naive and immature."

White privilege is being able to say that you hate "gooks" and "will always hate them," and yet, you aren't a racist because, ya know, you were a POW so you're entitled to your hatred, while being black and insisting that black anger about racism is understandable, given the history of your country, makes you a dangerous bigot.

White privilege is being able to claim your experience as a POW has anything at all to do with your fitness for president, while being black and experiencing racism and an absent father is apparently among the "lesser adversities" faced by other politicians, as Sarah Palin explained in her convention speech.

And finally, white privilege is the only thing that could possibly allow someone to become president when he has voted with George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, even as unemployment is skyrocketing, people are losing their homes, inflation is rising, and the U.S. is increasingly isolated from world opinion, just because a lot of white voters aren't sure about that whole "change" thing. Ya know, it's just too vague and ill-defined, unlike, say, four more years of the same, which is very concrete and certain.White privilege is, in short, the problem.

Why are Steve Schmidt and Rick Davis preventing John McCain and Sarah Palin form having bona-fide news conferences with the press at a time when this year is the most important election of the last 50 years? What are you afraid of Mr. Schmidt and Mr. Davis, more McCain/Palin gaffes, misstatements, blatant errors and outright lies and distortions? Is it because McCain can’t tell the difference between Sunnis or Shiites or whether Spain is in Europe or Latin America or is it SEC vs. FEC, and a whole host of other McCain gaffes? I think the American people deserve more, Mr. Schmidt and Mr. Davis.

Unfortunately, most Americans have grown accustomed to accepting mediocrity and lower standards at every level of American life, which is reflected in our schools, homes, churches, Wall Street, multi-national corporations and in our elected and appointed governmental personnel. With the selection of Sarah Palin as John McCain’ running mate, it has been revealed how much disdain and contempt the Republican Party has for the American people and its own party. True intelligent conservatives are frightened with the selection of Palin who is below marginal at best and is the female equivalent of Clarence Thomas.

The following should be of interest to all voters because of the conniving, discriminatory behavior of Republican officials in Macomb County, Michigan. The article was originally published in: TODAY’S DEMOCRACY NOW!

The Democratic National Committee and the Obama campaign have filed a federal lawsuit to block a controversial voter suppression tactic in Michigan, The Michigan Messenger reported this week that the chairman of the Republican Party in Macomb County is planning to use a list of foreclosed homes to block people from voting in the upcoming election as part of a Republican effort to challenge some voters on Election Day.

The following is an excellent article by the highly esteemed Ron Walters. Dr. Ron Walters is distinguished leadership scholar and professor of government and politics at the University of Maryland, College Park.

(NNPA)----The truth about Republican presidential nominee John McCain is that because he has been unable to mobilize the base of his party (a fact on which the media has refused to focus) he has had to rely on his vice presidential pick, Sarah Palin, to do so. Hiding under her skirt of popularity, his campaign has come alive, with Palin as the putative nominee instead of him.But because he has put her out there, Palin runs the risk of being vetted in public and it will not wash to say that her 17-year-old daughter, Bristol’s pregnancy is out-of-bounds. Remember the firestorm cause by Republican vice presidential candidate, Dan Quayle’s rant against the fictional TV character “Murphy Brown,” who wanted to have a baby out of wedlock during the 1992 campaign, in a speech where he was trying to promote “family values”?Because of the high number of teen pregnancies in the Black community, conservative politicians have made subtle inferences about the immorality of Blacks and linked it to the Democratic Party for some time. At the same time, when they were in power, Republicans systematically cut job training, youth programs, poverty programs and anything that would help young teenagers have live positive options.Rejecting help for pregnant teens seems to be a practice of Sarah Palin, who cut a program proposed by the Alaskan legislature just this year from $5 million to $3.6 million. This mirrors John McCain’s history of cutting programs aimed at reducing teen pregnancy over his career. Hypocrisy is not even close to the image they present as they embrace Bristol Palin and her unwed lover on the stage of the Republican convention and legitimize their role in this election.There is a question whether conservatives will be embarrassed as Sarah Palin’s record comes more fully into view, with tidbits like the patriotism she and her husband showed as members of the Alaska Independence Party which wanted to secede from the U.S., or that she lied about her support of the “bridge to nowhere”, or putting the executive jet on E-Bay, or any number of things. Conservatives may feel locked in because she is the only “reliable conservative” on the ticket and therefore, may hold their nose and support her even though there are serious conflicts with their basic ideology and the Palins’ past behavior.What I think we will see, therefore, is that independents will reject Sarah Palin’s hard right posture toward things like abortion rights and continue to move toward Obama. However, Obama has to release Hillary Clinton or some credible surrogate from his campaign to expose the readiness of the new Republican star to be a heartbeat away from a 72-year-old president. Remember John Kerry?

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Rather than constantly working on whichever Sabbath you believe in, why not take time off to reflect, meditate and pray for the salvation of America? The American empire is hemorrhaging at its seams and most of the American electorate appears unconcerned and pre-occupied with maintaining their incessant, lustful, epicurean lifestyle while our government has fallen into a type of benign Machiavellian decadence and decay.

I understand that Sarah Palin’s 17 year old daughter, Bristol, is going to have a high tech shotgun wedding. Is the public invited and is Rev. James Dobson going to officiate the ceremony or will Ralph Reed?

Sarah Palin did a good job in the interview with ABC’S Charlie Gibson. Mrs. Palin showed how she had a mastery and in-depth knowledge of all the subject matter that was asked of her. And all Americans can take pride in her candidacy.

If John McCain is such an honorable man, then why has he lied so much to the American people? Oh, I get it---Mr. McCain puts the Republican Party and winning an election before his alleged love of America! Shame on you McBush!John McCain said Sarah Palin knows more about energy than anyone and that she is an expert on energy development. Does John McCain think the American people are complete idiots or just plain pig-ignorant? Was John McCain drinking Rolling Rock or Fighting Cock when he made the above statements about Sarah Palin? I am beginning to wonder whether McCain (McBush) is suffering from some degree of senility.McCain claims he has never accepted earmarks as a U.S. Senator. Another McCain lie! McCain obtained an earmark of 100 million dollars for an Academic Center at the University of Arizona in honor of the former Chief Justice, William Rehnquist.

I want to know how can the average American citizen on Main Street, U.S.A. obtain a federal loan? I need approximately one billion dollars or should I attempt to obtain the loan from China, Japan or the E.U.? But doesn’t one have to be a citizen of China, Japan or one of the E.U. nations to obtain a loan?

There are many multi-national corporations that are getting rich off the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and these corporations employ thousands of people. But is it worth 15 billion dollars a month for six years. I think not……….ask Wall Street!

Monday, September 15, 2008

I heard all the interviews with all the Black delegates in St. Paul. These are indeed a strange breed of Black folks. Most of the Black folks at the convention reminded me of “Little Bo Peep who had lost her sheep”. I can’t really say they are deaf, dumb or blind, but they are just a little confused and mixed-up. The camera people made sure that all 36 Black delegates were highlighted to give an appearance that this was a diverse event. What a sham! The first thing these misguided Black delegates and Black Republicans say is: the Republicans are the Party of Lincoln that ended slavery. What they don’t say is that the Republican Party abandoned the Black electorate after the election of the bombastic Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876 and they have blatantly ignored the Black electorate for the last 132 years.Yes, there were Black delegates at the first Republican National Convention in 1856 which was about 32 years before the onslaught of the greatest wave of European immigration in the 1880’s. These modern day Black Republicans argue emphatically that they support traditional American values of family and home, yet no administration has done more than Bush/Cheney to destroy the Black family, the poor, and the White middle class. Thus the vast majority of these so-called Black Republicans in their service as footstools and patsies to the master, have betrayed, misled and misinformed other Blacks for whom they assumed representative or leadership status and now serve as surrogates in the maintenance of the status quo.It should be clear to all who wish to see it, that the Republican party, the once venerated Party of Lincoln, has unceremoniously yet convincingly become the bed for neo-conservatives, right-wingers, and reactionaries like Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, John McCain, Bush/Cheney, Trent Lott, Karl Rove, Rick Davis, Phil Gram, Dick Armey and the party of holdover Nazis. These Black Republicans, who are basically modern day “house servants” and their scurrilous surrogates are forever trying to convince us that the White right-wing, reactionary Republicans always mean just the opposite of something other than what they stated or wrote or that they are badly misquoted, misunderstood or misinterpreted. These Black Republican “house servants” like Armstrong Williams, Juan Williams and Joe Watkins always have it backwards and need to learn the facts of life and nature……..it is the dog that wags its tail, not the tail that wags the dog.Since the passage and enactment of Executive orders 9981, 10479, 11375, 11246, the Civil Rights Act of 1957, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Fair Housing Act of 1968, Brown vs. Board of Topeka, Kansas and the various federal, state, county and local judicial rulings on school desegregation, the Grande Olde Party has engaged in an all-out war against all the previous mentioned laws, executive orders and rulings. The Republican operatives along with Republican controlled legislators in conjunction with duplicitous judges on the various federal and state courts have orchestrated devious, mean-spirited initiatives such as Proposition 209 and other state anti-affirmative action initiatives in Michigan and in the State of Washington that have the effect of limiting and dismantling equal opportunity programs in higher education, employment and in the awarding of state and federal contracts and minority set-asides. The appointment of throwback era Civil War Reconstruction jurists throughout the federal judiciary, particularly on the U.S. Supreme Court have had the same effect of stymieing and prohibiting equal opportunity for people of color. The narrow strict constructionist's rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court have had a devastating impact on Blacks and other racial minorities in the cases of Bakke, DeFunis, Weber, Crosan, Hopwood, Gratz, Grutter, and others. These pseudo closet racist jurists, appointed by Presidents Reagan, Bush I, and Bush II, attempt to mask and camouflage that they are interpreting the law rather than making new law in which every one of their rulings has had the effect of watering down and limiting the effectiveness of the various state and federal civil rights laws that thousands have died in the ongoing battle to become full citizens in this purported egalitarian democracy.You Black Republicans, what will you tell your children and grandchildren that you voted for a man such as John McCain who voted against the establishment of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King holiday and then voted in favor of the holiday only to later change his vote against the holiday and finally voted for the holiday? Also, will you tell your children about McCain's most vile, insidious, malicious, racially charged campaign against the first candidate who was nominated by his party who claimed to be AfricanAmerican (Black)?To all you Black Republicans like MSNBC’S analyst, Joe Watkins and other of the same ilk, what will you tell your children when they ask you: Daddy, did you vote for Barack Obama—if not, why Daddy? These lost Black Republicans should all be ashamed of themselves. And to think that some of my best friends were Black Republicans, and they really knew how to dance and sing-----“Johnny Be Good”.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Can Obama go on and stay on the offensive? Why doesn’t Obama stay on the offensive? Is Obama tough enough? Are Obama’s attack ads weak in comparison to McCain’s?Does Obama rely on attack ads rather than personally going on the offensive? Are attack ads a good substitute for Obama’s lack of true grit and toughness?Did Obama underestimate the McCain/Palin ticket?Why hasn’t the Obama camp come up with an effective strategy to counter the Palin factor?What happened to Obama’s 50 state strategy?Where is Obama’s army of surrogates and what are they doing?Was his meeting with slick Willie a little too late?Will Obama be prepared to successfully debate McCain while simultaneously making the case against Bush/Cheney/Palin?Does Obama need to prepare his case against Bush/Cheney/Mc/Cain/Palin as if he were going to prosecute a criminal defendant? When is this going to occur? I’m waiting! The American people are waiting.

Mr. Obama has had three months to put the last eight years of the Bush Administration on trial before the American people. In my opinion, Mr. Obama has not done a good job of exploiting the horrible Bush/Cheney record of governing. The second thing Mr. Obama should be doing is putting McCain’s 26 year old Senate record under intense cross examination and simultaneously attacking and exposing McCain’s running mate Palin for her inconsistencies and outright lies as Mayor of Wasilla and Governor of Alaska. Thus what we have in the instant case is that Obama has failed miserably when all the advantages favor the Party of Thomas Jefferson.Furthermore, Obama has allowed McCain to shape the presidential election by concentrating on non-substantive issues as personalities,so-called valued cultural issues, patriotism, McCain’s P.O.W. status and other diversionary tactics such as lipstick comments, etc. John McCain’s campaign manager, Rick Davis, informed the American electorate that this election will be about personalities not the issues. Yes, the Republican Party thinks the American electorate is “pig ignorant”. Even when the McCain campaign has shown a blatant disregard for the voters, Obama hasn’t been able to pivot and turn the election into the issues only (advantage—McCain).Mr. Obama has no one to blame except himself for his failure to seize the time and opportunity to lead his party to victory in November. McCain constantly has Obama on the defense and Obama’s inability to mount any semblance of a persistent, consistent offense will ultimately culminate in his defeat in November. Mr. Obama has permitted McCain to take his message of change and use it to his own advantage while the Obama camp appears perplexed and confused as to how to counter the McCain/Palin strategy. Also, the Republicans have done a yeoman job of creating the false issues of personalities and patriotism which have taken precedence over the important, meaningful issues such as the economy, financial turmoil on Wall Street, deregulation of the banking industry, escalating unemployment rate, mortgage foreclosure crises, high cost of college tuition, "no child left behind", comprehensive healthcare plan, comprehensive energy plan, free trade versus fair trade agreements, sustaining the viability of social security, veterans' benefits, the national debt, illegal immigration, the occupation in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan and other threats around the world.All the tax experts and independent tax organizations, such as the National Public Policy Institute, state that the Obama plan will put more money back into the pockets of the working class and middle class voters. So why hasn’t Mr. Obama been able to make the sell to the American people when he has all the advantages to prosecute and put on trial George Bush’s last eight years of backward and inept governance?Perhaps in retrospect, Mr. Obama made a strategic blunder in not putting Hillary on the ticket and the Republican choice of Palin might seal the deal for the Party of Lincoln. The Clintons could have withstood the relentless pressure on the part of the Republicans and their surrogate operatives to make political fodder of Bill Clinton’s presidential and foundation donors and his questionable shaky business deals with Ten Horn dictators. Biden’s 35 year old record in the Senate will come under attack and extreme close scrutiny in the very near future. This is major big league, hardball politics which is not for the timid at heart and Mr. Obama’s present strategy is a recipe for failure.One should remember that working class and middle class Whites have always been duped and tricked by the Republican Party with the cultural issues which forces them to vote against their economic interests which are really for the benefit of the wealthiest elite ruling families who are the movers and shakers in this country. Thus their actions coupled with the Bradley factor ----how can Obama win?

Sarah Palin has fired up the Republican base of Joe Six-Pack, the gun nuts, the hunters, the pro-lifers(anti-choice), the Archie Bunkers, the NASCAR crowd, the Slim Pickens pick-up drivers, the lunch pail Joes and the rural and suburban Clampetts. Palin appears to have invigorated McCain. Obama’s only hope that I see is to have his surrogates expose Palin’s strange religious conversion from Catholicism to some “way out” denomination and her shifty duplicitous moves as governor of Alaska. Furthermore, Obama needs to get all the White college students in the Plains and Mountain States to vote for him. In those tiny population states, college students can make a difference.

John McCain supported the economic policies of George W. Bush for the last eight years, and now we have the highest unemployment rate in six years. Thanks Mr. Bush/ Mr. McCain. And, Mr. McCain voted with George Bush 90% of the time with 84,000 jobs lost in August!

Bob Barr is the only true conservative in this year’s presidential race who is masquerading as a dyed-in-the-wool libertarian. John McCain has never been a true conservative and that’s why John McCain is working overtime to keep Bob Barr off the ballot in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio and Florida. Also, the sponsored media appears to be working in conjunction with the McCain campaign to deny Bob Barr the opportunity to participate in our alleged Democratic government. Mr. Barr could have a far greater impact on the national election than Ralph Nader ever dreamed of having.

Since when did joining the U.S. Military or being a prisoner of war become a requirement or qualification for president? Bill Clinton was a known draft dodger and many political historians claim he was the greatest president of the twentieth century. Contrast Mr. Clinton with the highly esteemed U.S. Naval Academy graduate, Jimmy Carter, whom many historians believe his presidency was a disaster with its double digit inflation. It’s the issues, low information voters!

Where there is smoke, there is fire. What we have in the instant case of Sarah Palin is an appearance of impropriety. Did Mrs. Palin abuse or misuse her power as the chief executive of the State of Alaska? When does the cover-up begin?

Mr. McCain claims that he is a reformer. What has he reformed in Congress for the last 26 years? Adolf Schicklgruber (Hitler) also claimed to be a reformer and ask the German people what did he reform?

Last week, I listened attentively to the Republican National Convention in the twin cities, with all its false symbolism of American patriotism which was more reminiscent of a revival of the National Socialist German Workers’ Party or N.S.D.A.P.Mr. Goebbels would have been proud of you, Mr. McCain, Mr. Schmidt and Mr. Rove.

Dull, boring, bland, empty, no substance and misleading with fascist tenets.It’s the economy, stupid! The public needs to do a fact check on McCain’s tax plan for most of the things McCain said about his tax plan at the Republican National Convention were lies and inaccuracies.

John McCain (McBush) and Charles Keating cheated little old ladies out of their life’s savings and now he wants to privatize social security. And why hasn’t the media gone after John McCain’s questionable links to organized crime in Arizona?